Mastery Over the Time of the Other: The Death Penalty and Life in Prison Without Parole

Derrida’s seminar on the death penalty is a deconstructive reading of the debate over the abolition of the death penalty beginning in eighteenth century Europe. The main imperative of the reading is to address the limits of abolitionist discourses, which historically have been based on natural law conceptions of the right to life. Derrida’s interest in undertaking such a reading is to develop an abolitionist argument that would hold up in principle against the death penalty. However, in this paper I take Derrida’s insights into the meaning of the death penalty to explore what they reveal about political sovereignty, and in particular its relation to violence. The paper begins by addressing several relevant moments in Derrida’s reading of texts on both sides of the death penalty debate and shows how the arguments are each limited by some ‘unavowed’ interest that conditions the fundamental principles upon which they are based (Derrida, in Death penalty, Volume I. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, p. 142; 2014). These unavowed interests relate to what Derrida describes as the ‘compromise’ on the question of cruelty in the context of the death penalty. Based on these readings, the paper develops a concept of the death penalty defined as a relation to time, specifically, a relation of mastery over the time of the life of the other. It then connects this concept to Derrida’s analysis of political sovereignty found in Rogues (2005) and ‘Force of Law’ (2002) to make two arguments. First, the conception of the death penalty as a relation to time redefines so-called ‘death penalty alternatives’, such as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as manifestations of the death penalty through other means; and, second, changes in the appearance of the death penalty reflect changes in the institution of political sovereignty, and in turn the status of the state.     

High-Risk Cases at the Intersection of Domestic/Family Violence and Child Protection: Learning from Practice

Journal of Family Violence - Domestic/family violence (DFV) and child protection co-occurrence of risk is common, with related homicides remaining a grave public concern. Recognising and...     

The Role of Emotion and Cognition in Juror Perceptions of Victim Impact Statements

Recent legislation has contributed to an increasing number of victims participating in the trial process by way of providing victim impact statements (VISs). The present study evaluated jurors’ perceptions of VISs in a jury-eligible sample. Participants were 402 jury-eligible community members in the southwestern United States. Using a vignette-based method, VIS presence and content (i.e., Victim Harm versus Victim Emotion information) were examined for their influence on sentencing decisions and blame attribution. Individual differences of need for affect (NFA) and need for cognition (NFC) were featured as moderators of these relations. Notable results included significantly lengthier sentencing recommendations and decreased levels of victim blame in the presence of a VIS, regardless of content. In addition, juror NFC was significantly positively associated with perpetrator blame, while NFA moderated the relation between VIS content and sentencing length. The presence of a VIS impacted blame and sentencing, although jury panel member individual differences moderated such effects. Implications for victim rights policy, trial consultation, and social–emotional theory are discussed.     

Fatal Wounds Sustained from “Falling Bullets”: Maintaining a High Index of Suspicion in a Forensic Setting

Celebratory gunfire injuries from “falling bullets” occur when guns are fired into the air during celebrations without realizing that this can cause serious injuries or even fatalities. Fatal celebratory gunfire injury is an uncommonly reported event in the continental United States. Our electronic database was queried for homicides occurring within days of July 4th and December 31st over a 14‐year period. We describe two cases of fatal gunfire injury due to celebratory gunfire occurring during New Year's Eve in Southern Florida. The relevant literature is reviewed. These case reports illustrate that fatal gunfire injuries sustained from “falling bullets” may pose as an unexpected mimic to sudden natural deaths especially in patients with prior medical history. A high index of suspicion to recognize such injury is required particularly during holidays.